A Little Bit of Texas : Horatio
by Dragonflier
Summary: A woman from Texas works with, and sometimes against, the CSI Miami team.
1. Missing Family

I do not own CSI: Miami or any of the characters except for Bethany and Nate. I'm just playing in the sandbox.  
  
Chapter One: Missing family  
  
The Klark's were concerned when the Yomura's were late for the dinner the two families were supposed to have together. In the five years the two houses had been friends the Yomura's had never been late to anything, not once. The Klark's couldn't say the same, not by a long shot. Henry and Sandra Klark had always thought they'd love to be there when John and Satski were tardy; instead they got progressively more worried. At half an hour late they called the house and cell phones of the couple. Then they called John's office. At an hour and a half they loaded their son into the car, left the restaurant and went to the Yomura's house. When no one answered the door they looked through the garage windows -- the cars were still there. That's when they called the police.  
  
When the patrol car arrived they instructed the Klark's to stay out of the way, and went to the house. After they repeated the door knocking, bell- ringing performance they went into the back yard. That's when they called for backup; the back door had been jimmied, the house was deserted, and there had obviously been a fight because things were broken, and they found blood. The detectives got there first, closely followed by the CSI team of Horatio, Speed and Delko. Speed and Delko started working the evidence while Horatio spoke outside with the lead detective. The Yomura's were an Asian-American family: mother, father, with one young son. They were considered well adjusted and happy by all the neighbors. No one could think of any reason anyone would want to hurt them. Speed was taking pictures and working the blood, Delko was finding fingerprints.  
  
Speed made it to the upstairs first, so he was the one who heard the sounds from the attic. When he investigated he found the six-year-old Yomura boy.  
  
"Hey, are you okay? I'm here to help you." Speed tried to make his voice soft, tried to let the child know that the good guys were there to help.  
  
When he held out his hand to they boy, though, the kid wedged himself into a corner of the attic and just stared at Speed, tears running down his face. Speed realized that this was not a situation to try and develop child communication skills, but to call in someone who already had them in place. He climbed down the attic stairs and called in Horatio.  
  
Horatio took off his glasses and climbed into the gloom of the attic. He sat down near the child, and started speaking quietly, about how he was with the police, and he liked to help people. He very slowly took off his badge and handed it to the boy. The kid stared at the badge, running his fingers over the shiny metal. Horatio kept up a soft voiced monologue, reassuring and constant.  
  
Eventually he asked "Are you ready to come downstairs with me?"  
  
The boy hesitated, and Horatio said "I'll be with you the whole time."  
  
They climbed down and left the house hand in hand.  
  
The team tried to find out what happened, but the boy wouldn't talk, not even to Horatio. They took the child to the police station, but Horatio stayed with him, since he had given his word. He had told Speed and Delko to call if they needed him, but he had enough confidence in his team to be able to feel comfortable leaving the scene. At the station Horatio saw the kid trying to use the phone on one of the desks. He gave the boy his personal cell phone, and told him it was okay to call anyone he wanted to.  
  
The child dialed, then listened on the phone. He finally spoke. "Aunt Bethy?" he said. Then he started crying and talking at the same time "Aunt Bethy, Aunt Bethy."  
  
Horatio took the phone gently away from the boy and spoke. "This is Lt. Caine of the Miami-Dade police department. Who is this please?"  
  
"This is Bethany James. What the hell is going on? Why do you have my nephew? Where's John? Where's Satski?"  
  
"Ma'am, I afraid something has happened to John and Satski Yomura. We found your nephew, but he has been unable to tell us anything. Do you know anything that could help us? Anyone who might want to hurt your....brother?"  
  
"My brother, yes, and his wife. But no, I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt them."  
  
"Your nephew hasn't even told us his name. It would probably make him feel better if we knew it."  
  
"His name is Nathaniel."  
  
"Nathaniel. Okay." Hearing his name, the boy looked around. Horatio smiled at him. "Ma'am, does Nathaniel have any family in town?"  
  
"He will in a few hours. Can you hold onto him until I get there?"  
  
"A few hours? Where are you?"  
  
Bethany replied, "I'm in Texas, but you best believe I'll be on the next plane out. Exactly where are you?"  
  
After Horatio told her that he would hold onto Nathaniel he gave her the address to give the taxi driver.  
  
"Okay," Bethany said, "Please let me talk to Nate." While Nate talked to Bethany he gradually stopped crying. He closed the phone and gave it back to Horatio. "Thank you" he said in a very small voice. "Aunt Bethy says to stay close to you and do what you say."  
  
"Your Aunt Bethy is a very smart lady, and she's on the way to get you. Can you wait for her?" Nate put his fingers in his mouth, the tears drying on his cheeks. He nodded at Horatio, and Horatio again smiled at him.  
  
"I'll wait with you."  
  
Bethany showed up at the station with an overnight bag over one shoulder, a purse on the other, and a worried, determined expression.  
  
Speed was the first to see her, and told Horatio "We have a problem. This woman isn't Nathaniel's aunt. She's white."  
  
Horatio went out, leaving Nathaniel in the care of a female officer. He saw Bethany in the lobby, where she was getting angrier and more concerned by the split second. Horatio was trying to figure out how this woman thought that she would be able to fool them into getting Nate. Meanwhile Nate had overheard that his Aunt was there, and squirmed his way away from the officer. He ran into the lobby. Any doubt as to the woman's identity disappeared when Nate went running right past Horatio and into her arms. Bethany hugged him tight, kissing his head and face over and over again.  
  
A little later an officer told Horatio that Bethany was asking to speak to him. Nate was curled up on one of the benches, asleep.  
  
Bethany asked, "What happened to my family?"  
  
"As far as we can determine John and Satski were kidnapped. Can you think of any reason why they would be taken?"  
  
Bethany said, "No, they aren't the kind to make enemies."  
  
Horatio looked at her a moment. "You are John's sister?'  
  
Bethany replied "Yeah." then realized what prompted the question. "Oh, having a hard time finding the family resemblance?" Bethany smiled briefly. "I'm adopted. My original parents were killed 20 years ago in a wreck. My father worked with Dad Yomura, so after the accident they took me in. Eventually they cut through enough red tape to adopt me. You would never know I wasn't born to them, though. I had never felt more at home then when the Yomura's took me in, they felt more like my parents then my real one's ever did. Plus, the only reason John and I weren't brother/sister since birth was because of faulty biology. I should have been born into the family from the beginning. And I have no idea why I'm babbling about my life with you. I'm sorry. I'm not normally this...chatty."  
  
Horatio understood what was happening. "That's a normal reaction, and sometimes useful. Sometimes someone knows more then they think they do, and it can come out."  
  
Bethany, frustrated, said "Not this time, I'm afraid. I have no idea why anyone would hurt them. John is a nice guy. He's an architect, which really isn't a high-risk job. And everyone loves Satski, she's a school teacher."  
  
Later, Bethany was able to find out from Nathaniel how he got up in the attic. While Calleigh watched Nate, Bethany filled Horatio in on what she had been able to find out. The Yomura's were getting ready to go to dinner when they heard a loud noise from downstairs. John went down to investigate, then yelled up to his wife to take Nate and get out. Satski wouldn't leave without knowing that John would be alright, but didn't want to endanger her son. She opened up the door to the attic, put Nate in there, and told him to be very quiet until she came back for him. Then she went to help John. When Nate heard the people downstairs he moved to the door. That's the noise that Speed heard. When he saw that it wasn't his parents he was too scared to talk. From the time he was a baby Aunt Bethy's phone number had been drilled into his memory. When he left with the strange man, all he could think of was to call her. The nice man let him call her, and so he knew the man could be trusted.  
  
Bethany said "Still not helpful, I'm afraid, but at least it explains how he ended up in there."  
  
Right around this time Delko came up to Horatio. There had been a break: they got hits off of a couple of the prints found at the scene. The police were ready to go to the two last know addresses of the two ex-cons whose fingerprints had been identified. Horatio asked Bethany to wait at the station with Nate, in his personal office. He didn't want them on the scene, in case of the worst. He would call her as soon as he knew anything, one way or another.  
  
Jeff Donovan and Tom Jacques had taken the Yomura's from their home, thinking that they were the Yakumura family. The Yakumura's were incredibly influential in local businesses, and these two less-than- geniuses had decided if they kidnapped them, they could name their terms when it came to opening a bar. So they pulled the address from the phone book. John tried to explain that if they had been as powerful as the Yakumura's they wouldn't have been listed in the phone book, but that didn't sink in. They were tied to kitchen chairs, listening to the two spin out their plans for the bar when the police arrived. Horatio made the call to Bethany. John and Satski were fine and on the way.  
  
Later Jeff and Tom did actually try to make the argument that they shouldn't be charged since they hadn't kidnapped the people they were thinking of. Horatio advised them not to use thinking and themselves in the same sentence.  
  
When the parents were reunited with their son and Bethany, Horatio could put this down as a good day. The blood they had found at the house was from minor scratches from all parties. No one was seriously hurt, and the kidnappers were headed for jail until their court date, at which time he was confident they would be shipped off to prison.  
  
He was there when the Yomura's applied concentrated effort in getting Bethany to move to Miami. John pointed out that Bethany's boss had been thinking of branching out, and Miami would be a great city to open an office in. He also pointed out that it takes her 4 to 6 hours to get to them in case of an emergency. Satski pointed out how much they loved her and wouldn't it be great if Bethany was there for Nate when as he was growing up? Nate, obviously picking up on what was going on, despite being only six years old, he just said please.  
  
Bethany snapped "Alright. I'll talk with Will, and see if Miami is what he had in mind for a branch office. But if not, then no deal."  
  
Horatio had to smile to himself. He had no doubt that Bethany was going to be Miami's latest citizen. 


	2. The Case

Chapter Two: The Case  
  
Months had gone by since the Yomura's kidnapping. Horatio had testified in court, and then pretty much forgotten about it. His caseload was always heavy, and for once there had been no deaths. He did wonder every once in awhile if Bethany had ever moved to Miami, but always had something come up to distract him from finding out. The answer came one day in the form of a case. There was a body found in an apartment. H went with Alexx, Delko and Speed to investigate. Arriving on the scene, he saw Bethany outside in the hallway, looking pale and talking to an officer. It was her apartment. Alexx, Delco and Speed started working while Horatio stopped outside to speak to her.  
  
She recognized him, and managed an ever so small smile. "One of these days, Lt. Caine, I would love to meet you under nicer conditions."  
  
As she turned to face him he noticed that she had been hit. Her left eye was blackened and there was a bruise on the side of her mouth. They looked to be a couple of days old.  
  
Horatio asked "Do the body have anything to do with those bruises you have?"  
  
Bethany looked confused for a moment, then her face cleared. "No, the bruises are from a competition I was in 2 days ago. I actually forgot about them in all the drama that's going on right now. The body, now, I don't know what the hell is up with that."  
  
"So what's happening in your apartment?"  
  
"I came home from work today, and found a body in the fridge."  
  
Horatio looked at her for a second, but what can you say to that? He went inside to talk to his team. As he had been told, there was indeed a male body, fully clothed, wedged into the refrigerator. The food had been taken out and placed into an ice chest near the kitchen. The shelves had been removed and neatly stacked, leaning next to the fridge. Alexx couldn't perform any kind of investigation on the body until it had been moved, so she was waiting for the photographers to finish. As soon as they were done, she had the boys pull the corpse out. Her initial investigation showed several deep cuts, including one to the jugular artery in the neck. That was probably the killing cut, but definite conclusions would have to wait until she did a full post-mortem. Delko was taking evidence, and Speed was dealing with the pictures. When he got to the bedroom he found a French maid's costume lying on the bed. He took pictures and then looked closer. There seemed to be some kind of fluid on the costume, and he could guess what it was. The next question is: did it belong to Bethany James, or did the killer bring it in? What the semen from a boyfriend, or had the bad guy left them a gift?  
  
Coming home was supposed to be safe. Home is a sanctuary, and Bethany's had been invaded. She was shaky to begin with. When Speed asked her if she had a French maid's outfit first she looked at him like he was crazy, then told him that no, she didn't. He told her "I found the maid's outfit on the bed, with" here he hesitated "some kind of biological substance on it."  
  
Bethany asked him, "Does 'biological substance' mean what I think it means?"  
  
Speed said, "Well, I can't be sure without testing, but I think it's semen."  
  
As soon as Speed said that, Bethany asked him if he was done processing the bathroom. When he said yes she ran past him, into her apartment, and started throwing up into the toilet. Alexx followed her in, held back her hair and was telling her little things to make her feel better, like a mother would tell a child.  
  
"It's okay, honey, this will all be over soon. We're going to get this guy, no problem. It may seem backwards to you, but that little bit of himself that he left is the best thing that could have happened. That DNA will help us to nail him. I know you're upset, that's normal. I'd be worried about you if you weren't upset."  
  
Alexx came out while Bethany brushed her teeth. When Bethany came out, she still looked pale, with her black eye in stark contrast, but seemed less shaky.  
  
"Do you think that was left to scare me? Intimidate me? What?" she asked, calmly.  
  
Delko responded, "It's hard to tell what this guy was thinking. We'll ask when we catch him."  
  
Horatio spoke up, "You won't be able to sleep here tonight. Do you want someone to drive you to your brother's house?"  
  
"There's no way I'm going anywhere near my family until this sicko is in custody. I can't chance that he'll find them. I'll stay at my office. I already have clothes there, I sleep there all the time. Plus it has a state of the art security system. Oh, and if you need the mattress for any fluids, you can have it. I'll be getting a new one."  
  
The police took Bethany downtown to the station there. They showed her pictures of the man she had found in the refrigerator. Bethany had never seen the man in the fridge before, either alive or dead. Detective Yelena Salas got around to asking what she did for a living.  
  
Bethany replied, "I'm sort of an odd-job worker. A fixer, I guess you could call it. Sometimes I'm a bodyguard, sometimes I'm a private detective, sometimes I'm just a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes I help when the law can't."  
  
Yelena tensed at this "So, you're a vigilant."  
  
Bethany said, "That's not how I think of myself, but I can see how you would come to that conclusion. I always work with law enforcement. I always will. Call Austin and talk to the detectives there. They will be happy to tell you I'm one of the good guys."  
  
Yelena didn't seem all that mollified, and looked to Horatio, but Horatio was looking at Bethany.  
  
He asked, "So you help people for a living?"  
  
Bethany shrugged, "I try to. One a good day I help people. A lot of the time I'm like you...I clean up other people's messes."  
  
Horatio stared at her. "And does that make you any enemies?"  
  
Bethany gave another shrug, "Lots, and I make more just about every day. But this really doesn't seem to be the style of the kind of person I piss off."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
Bethany said, "Yeah, the kind of person I normally would have after me would have either killed me directly, or in this case, would have killed someone I know, and above all would have made sure I knew who it was who did it." Bethany's face got shadowed for a moment. "The fact that I have no idea who's done this bothers me, I think more than finding the body. It means I've missed something, overlooked somebody. That means I'm slipping, and usually that means I'm dead."  
  
Horatio said, "You're not dead, and we're going to make sure you stay that way."  
  
"That's nice of you to say, Lt., but it's me that needs to make sure I stay that way."  
  
Horatio gave one of his small smiles: "Do you mind if we help?"  
  
"Oh, I insist."  
  
In the hall Yelena asked what that was all about.  
  
Horatio looked at her a moment, then said, "I don't know yet." He put on his sunglasses, and walked away.  
  
They found out the dead man was a Miami grocer. Digging a little deeper they also found that he had a couple of domestic abuse complaints phoned in against him. The wife really wasn't all that broken up about her dead husband, as most wives would be, even if they have been abused. She just didn't care one way or the other. When Horatio and Yelena were done talking to her she went off to work, just like any other day. They left the apartment complex, and as they headed toward their cars Horatio saw Bethany in a diner across the street, in a window seat, drinking coffee and reading a book. He waved Yelena to leave, and went across the street to talk to Bethany. She looked up from her book and was surprised to see him.  
  
Horatio started asked questions. "Did you ever shop at the grocery story 'The Corner Store'?"  
  
"No, I shop at the grocery store up the street from my apartment. The one you're talking about is right up the street from here, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I've never been to it."  
  
"Do you eat here often?" Horatio continued.  
  
"Yes, it's my favorite breakfast place. The coffee is good, the staff is friendly, and they have a Western omelet that is absolutely amazing."  
  
"The man whose body you found lives right across the street from here."  
  
"Lt. Caine, please sit down. What more can you tell me?"  
  
He sat across from her. The waitress asked him if he wanted anything. He got a cup of coffee. He then updated Bethany on the man, the wife, the abuse calls.  
  
Bethany broke in, "Do you think the wife did it?"  
  
"I don't think so. That would require more emotion than she's got, more energy than she's got, and more life." H asked her if the name of the wife or the man rang any bells.  
  
She thought a moment, then, "No. Not my bells anyway. We do get a lot of domestic cases, and I'm not the only one who works them. I'll ask at work, and let you know if anything comes up."  
  
"I think I'll come by your office later, if that's alright with you, and talk to some of your co-workers."  
  
"Oh yeah, that'll be fine. I've actually had to stop them from tailing me throughout the day, so I'm pretty sure they'll be happy to talk to you."  
  
"Why'd you stop them? I would think it would make you feel safer, to have someone you trust around while a bad guy is focusing on you."  
  
"A lot of my job is selling myself. These people have got to believe in me if I'm going to help them. I can't do that with a muscle man trying to act inconspicuous hanging around." Bethany said.  
  
"You don't think a muscle man would help the deal?" Horatio asked.  
  
"You'd think so, wouldn't you? It really doesn't, not in the early stages. I bring in the muscle, or the additional brains, as needed, after I've sized up the client and the situation."  
  
Bethany's breakfast arrived, and was the omelet she had talked about earlier.  
  
"Would you like some breakfast?" she asked  
  
"No, thank you."  
  
"Would you like some of mine?"  
  
"No, thank you."  
  
"Then do you mind if I eat in front of you?"  
  
He smiled and said, "Go ahead."  
  
While she ate they continued to discuss the case, both brainstorming, just throwing ideas out as they came to them. While they were talking a different waitress brought extra jalapenos for Bethany, without her having asked for them. Bethany gave Horatio a "just a minute" gesture and started talking to the waitress.  
  
"Sue, how's your grandson doing? Are things going better with him and his mom?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, thank you for asking. They took a little trip together to Key Largo to do some fishing. It went okay."  
  
Bethany grinned at the older woman. "That's so great to hear. You know, sometimes little steps are the way to go."  
  
The woman smiled at Bethany and told her "Yeah, I think it's going to work out." Sue smiled again and walked away.  
  
Horatio looked at Bethany, "One of your clients?"  
  
"Nah, I eat here just about every morning. Sue seemed kind of down one day and we got to talking. She's a really nice lady, and sometimes just having someone to talk to can help. So I try to let her know she can talk to me."  
  
"That's nice of you," he said  
  
Bethany shrugged. "It really isn't much. People like to talk to me; it comes in handy when I'm trying to do a job. It's nice to be able to use it for things a little less life-shattering once in a while."  
  
Horatio got up, and stated to put some money on the table.  
  
Bethany protested, "Hey, I invited you to sit down, I've got your coffee."  
  
He wouldn't have it. "I pay for my own coffee, that way there's no hint of professional conflict."  
  
"You really think people would think I could corrupt you with a cup of coffee?"  
  
"Let's not find out."  
  
He put his money on the table and told her he would see her later when he went to her office. He walked out and went to his car. When he looked back Bethany was reading her book, eating at the same time. He got in his car and drove away.  
  
When he was at her office he asked her for a list of places other than the breakfast place she spends a lot of time. Horatio talked to the other people in the office, all of who seemed friendly, competent and were mostly men. Two were huge, bodybuilders one significantly older than the other. The older one was grizzled with a wry sense of humor and was white. The younger one was intense, very serous, very clean-cut and was a light skinned black man. Both were upset that Bethany wouldn't let them go with her out in the field, but realized they are hardly the "blend in" type. The had worked hard to not be able to blend in, and it's amused the older one that it had come to bite him on the ass.  
  
"Of course," he said, "it's really the sicko I'm trying to look out for. If I'm there they guy would just get hurt, maybe killed. But Bethany can be MEAN."  
  
The young guy started to protest when the older one calmed him down.  
  
"Don't worry Jr. The cop knows I'm kidding."  
  
There was a blonde man there who smiled a lot, a prerequisite computer nerd, and apparently two more men are out on duty, one as a bodyguard, and one as a security consultant. Then Horatio met Kelly, a breath-taking brunette whose job, it seemed, was to make men stupid. Bethany later said of Kelly, "She can distract a whole room better than a bomb scare."  
  
Kelly gave H a full on "come hither" smile, and seemed disappointed when he failed to even look twice. She went off to check her face in the mirror, and pouted prettily at him for the rest of the time he was there. No one has heard of the victim, or of his wife. All are very concerned about Bethany. The last thing he saw as he left the office was the second place martial arts trophy Bethany had won at the competition that had given her the black eye. Horatio reminded himself to never jump to conclusions, especially about Bethany.  
  
A few days later the CSI team had started drawing blanks. Horatio went to visit Bethany at the breakfast place again, and got there before she did. Sue talked to him about how nice Bethany was, and how glad Sue was that she had finally met a nice man. She told him about the time the crazy man was in there and started scaring people, and it was Bethany who was the one who got between him and the old couple who had pissed him off by telling him to be quiet. She told how Bethany had fought the guy and knocked him out. It turned out the guy was off his meds, and was really dangerous.  
  
Horatio turned this over in his mind, then asked, "Are there any other regulars in here now? What I mean is people who are usually in here when Bethany is?"  
  
Sue pointed out a couple of people to him, but told him it varies. Not even Bethany can make it in every single morning. There's a flow to the regulars, just like anything else.  
  
When Bethany walked in and saw Horatio she got a huge smile on her face, like seeing him has made her day. When she walked up to him Horatio saw that one of the regulars Sue had pointed out was following every move Bethany made, barely blinking the whole time she was in the room. Later he found out from Sue that the guy was there the day the crazy man was. Horatio got the guy's name off of the credit card receipt, Thomas Wallen, and had it run, trusting his gut that there was something a little off about this guy.  
  
When he found out Wallen lived in the same building as the victim, Horatio pulled him into the station. At first the guy was covering himself really well, but Horatio had arranged for Bethany to walk across the hallway, in line of sight to the man being questioned. Yelena, who was in the hall to observe the interrogation through the one-way glass, told Bethany she should have a chat with Calleigh. The two women had kept in touch after the Yomura kidnapping, so it was easy for them to fall into conversation. They talked where the suspect could see them, but not hear. Once again, Wallen riveted his eyes onto her. Horatio asked if the had been impressed with the way she handled that guy in the diner that day.  
  
"You should have seen it, it was amazing. She was amazing. It kind of made me feel ashamed, though. I should have been the one who stopped that guy." Thomas said, never taking his eyes off Bethany, who was still standing across the hall.  
  
He had to prove to her that he was tough enough, as tough as she was. He had heard the guy upstairs beating on his wife and knew this was the perfect opportunity to show Bethany what kind of man he was.  
  
Horatio asked, "How did you know where she lives?"  
  
"Oh, I hacked into the Florida DMV records. It wasn't that hard, really. Not when finding out is this important."  
  
Horatio continued to gently steer the man into a full confession. "How did you get the body upstairs?"  
  
"The building is practically deserted during the day. I wrapped the body in a carpet and carried it up. I wore a painter's smock. I don't think anyone saw me, but if they did they would think I was replacing a carpet I had removed during painting. I was prepared, too. Some people would have just left the body on the couch or something, but I didn't want it to leak. I took all the shelves and food out of the fridge. That way it wouldn't leak onto fabric, and it wouldn't start to smell, either."  
  
Horatio looked at him. "That was smart thinking. What did you do with all that food?"  
  
"Oh, I put it all into an ice chest that I found. That was really lucky, because otherwise the food may have gotten bad before she got back. You know, the way I found that ice chest in her bedroom closet, it was almost like she knew what I was going to do, and she was trying to help me."  
  
"One thing I don't understand, Thomas, is how was she supposed to know it was you?" Horatio asked him.  
  
"Oh, soon she'll just realize it on her own. She'll walk up to me in the diner, and when we get home she'll wear the French maid's outfit I gave her." Wallen actually grinned sheepishly, "I really like thinking of her in that outfit."  
  
"Yes, we know you do." Horatio walked over to the window and closed the blinds, cutting Wallen off from the sight of Bethany.  
  
Wallen blinked, almost like coming out of a dream. He looked at Horatio and said, "Will you tell her? Tell her what I did for her? She has to know I'm a real man. Man enough for her."  
  
"Don't worry, Thomas. I'll make sure Bethany knows exactly what kind of man you are."  
  
Horatio and Yelena went to the break room, where Calleigh and Bethany were still talking. They told Bethany they had the guilty man in custody. Horatio was the one who told Bethany that the body wasn't meant as a threat or a warning, but as a present.  
  
Bethany started to rant to the world at large. "Why doesn't anyone EVER think to get me flowers? I know some women don't like getting flowers. They're too expensive, they're too cliché, but I love flowers. I would love to get flowers; no one ever gets them for me. The closest thing I get to a romantic gift is a corpse."  
  
Calleigh looked at her, then asked, "So are you happy we caught the guy?"  
  
Bethany actually started to laugh. "Yes, I am. Thank you all. Please ignore any emotional outbursts from the highly stressed woman before you. I should be better now you've got the guy. Now I'm going to get some ice cream and chocolate."  
  
A few days later Horatio met her again at the breakfast place. He was sitting down when she came in.  
  
She said, "Hey! What're you doing here?"  
  
"I really wanted to try that Western Omelet I've heard so much about," he said.  
  
Bethany smiled at him, and smiled even bigger when he handed her a bouquet of her favorite flower, irises.  
  
Horatio and Bethany started to have breakfast together several times a week after that. Sometimes they would read, him a newspaper and she one of her books. Most of the time, though, they would eat and talk. 


	3. A Shower, A Burglary, and A Hairbrush

Chapter Three: A Shower, A Burglary, and a Hairbrush  
  
Bethany had been in Miami almost a year. She had a series of friends and contacts in most levels of the Miami-Dade PD, and at least half of the business her office did was based on cops referring people when the police couldn't help.  
  
Bethany had just gotten in from her night shift, and wanted to take a shower. She had just enough time for a nap before she met Horatio for breakfast, and she wanted to wash up before lying down. Sleeping with a wet head was preferable to sleeping with dirty hair. She had forgotten, however, that the new bottle of conditioner she had bought was still in its bag, on the bed. So when it was needed, Bethany jumped out of the shower, dripping water everywhere, and ran into the bedroom where the bag with the conditioner in it had been left.  
  
She was surprised to see a man dressed all in black at her dresser. To be fair, the man seemed just as surprised to see a naked, wet woman suddenly come out of the bathroom. He had been listening to the shower, and figured as long as he could hear it he was safe. Since she was just going to be a second, she hadn't bothered to turn the water off. She had gotten the temperature where she wanted it, after all. Bethany noticed a lot of things in the frozen tableau that had been created. Like how the window was open, not broken, so if she hadn't come out, she might not have known for a while that anyone had come in. Like how he had something in his hand, and she couldn't quite tell what it was. Like how she could feel anger building inside of her, because she was a security consultant and strangers seemed to be using her apartment as a local tour site.  
  
The man snapped out of it first. He picked up a jar from the dresser and threw it at her, and then he ran. He started for the window, but Bethany threw a lamp at him. So he veered and ran out into the apartment and through the front door. He was running down the hallway, thinking he was in the clear when Bethany knocked him down from behind. He jumped off the ground, only to be put back onto it with a roundhouse kick. Bethany commented he wouldn't be able to get that image of the kick to the head out of his mind without therapy, since she was still naked and dripping wet. Talk about your mixed signals. There were a few people in the hallway during the scuffle. She ended up next to a man and woman couple who seemed stunned at what they had witnessed. Bethany asked the man to give her his belt. He was not going to, it just really was too weird for him, but Bethany explained the guy was a burglar and she needed something to tie him up until the cops arrived. She asked the woman to call 911 while the man slowly took off his belt. Bethany took the stolen object from the burglar. It was her hairbrush. That made less sense. Why would someone come in to steal a hairbrush?  
  
Waiting for the cops Bethany realized she was freezing. The adrenaline was wearing off and she was wet and cold. It didn't help that the realization of exactly how stupid her actions had been was sinking in. She had chased after a guy without taking a weapon, when the thing she saw in his hand could have been a gun. Bethany hated it when people acted stupid, and particularly hated it when that person is her. Now she didn't think it would be a good idea to leave the guy tied up in the hall, and she wasn't sure about the legal ramifications of moving him. Would that be kidnapping? Then she realized her door had shut behind her, and she had no way of getting inside anyway. She tried knocking on some doors, trying to find someone to let her use the phone to call the super. No one would answer the door, including the apartment of the couple who's belt she had borrowed. She spent a few seconds pounding her head against the wall next to her door. That's when the uniformed cops showed up. One called the super, while the other banged on the nearest door, yelling "It's the police, please answer your door." He finally got a little old lady to answer, and asked her to borrow a blanket. She did go and get one, giving Bethany a dirty look as she shut the door behind her. Bethany thought she could hear the lady say something about kids nowadays, but hoped she was wrong. She would hate to be the cause of someone slipping into cliché usage.  
  
Giving her statement was quite a chore, especially since the male cop kept asking her to repeat herself, since he was having a hard time envisioning the scene, and the female cop kept laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. They replaced the belt with cuffs and took the guy downtown. Bethany followed to make a formal statement once the super let her into the apartment and she put on some clothes. The uniforms had apparently found the time to tell the story, because when Bethany walked into the station it was to cheers, whistles, and applause. As much as she would like to believe it was for apprehending a criminal, she really didn't think so. That thought was confirmed when a group of five cops came up to her with varying levels of proposals, two of which were for marriage. She took it all with smiles, laughs, and waves. She did blush a time or two from the sheer stupidity of it all. All this over a freaking hairbrush.  
  
Two officers weren't as amused. Speed was there working with his detective partner on a case. He told her that he wanted her to go down to the morgue and look what being a half-cocked hero could do to the human body. When Bethany assured him she knew that she had messed up, he replied, "Oh, well that makes it all right then," gave her a look of disgust and walked off. Later he would apologize, and tell her about the time he was stuck in a firefight without a working weapon due to his own negligence. Having done the stupid thing himself, he was loath to see it in others.  
  
Detective Frank Tripp was the hardest on her. He pointed out with an eloquence Bethany wouldn't have credited to him how tremendously stupid what she did was. Telling him that she realized it didn't seem to slow him down any. He pulled back just as she was getting pissed off at being lectured to. Sometimes in police work timing is everything.  
  
The reports were filed, the hairbrush given to the evidence room, and the man, one Edward Winters, was put into jail. He didn't say one word during his arrest, not even to ask for a lawyer. The only reason they knew his name was from his ID in his wallet. The date was set for the court appearance, but the public defender assigned to the case made a deal with the DA. Edward was a first time criminal, and so got off with a $5,000 fine and 5 years probation. The only odd thing about the situation was that the hairbrush had disappeared from the evidence room. Since Edward wasn't being accused for stealing a hairbrush, but for breaking and entering, it didn't really matter, but Bethany did think it was a little odd when Detective Tripp told her. She suggested that the evidence room procedures be looked into, in case the next thing that gets lost is more important, and then she forgot about it. It was just a hairbrush after all. For the next several months anytime she had to go into the main police department downtown, all the cops would hand her tiny bottles of conditioner, just to make sure she would never run out. 


	4. The Suspect

Chapter Four: The Suspect  
  
Robert "Bobby" Miller is dead. He had been shot through the head, it had been almost instantaneous. The CSI team was brought in, but the detectives were already moving, without waiting for the evidence. They already had a pretty good idea where to start looking. There had been a very public threat against his life two days before, in a high-end restaurant. So the team started working the scene, and the detectives went to pick up Bethany James.  
  
Bethany was just leaving the office to go talk to some people on business. When the detectives showed up there was nothing in her manner to indicate she was apprehensive, nothing furtive. Hell, she acted just like nothing special had gone on last night. When they said they wanted to talk to her, she thought it was about business.  
  
"Could you use one of the other guys? I'm on my way to a meeting."  
  
"It's not like that Ms. James. We can talk to you here, or we can talk down at the station."  
  
"It must be important, if it's got you talking in stereotype. Let's go upstairs."  
  
She sent Kelly and Ron to talk to her contacts, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at her desk. "Well? What's up?"  
  
"Where were you between 11 pm and 1 am last night." Detective John Hagen asked.  
  
Bethany looked at him for a moment, and then said, "I can't discuss that with you. Why do you ask? What happened between those times that I'm supposed to be involved with?"  
  
"Ms. James, the way this works is, we ask and you answer."  
  
Bethany looked at him again. She had never personally worked with Hagen before, didn't know him, and he didn't know her.  
  
"Look, I've already told you that I am not going to tell you what I was doing last night. So now what do you want to do?"  
  
Hagen had never worked with Bethany, but had talked to others who had. What they had told him was being born out. She wasn't going to be intimidated, judging from these preliminary give and takes. Okay, let's try a different approach.  
  
Hagen said, "A few days ago you threatened the life of Bobby Miller in a restaurant."  
  
"Is that little cockroach pressing charges? I'm amazed. I never would have thought he would have dared to get me into a court of law."  
  
"He's not pressing charges. He was murdered last night."  
  
"Oh." She paused for a minute. "Between 11 and 1, huh?"  
  
"That's right. So now I ask you again: where were you last night?"  
  
"Look, detective, I'm honestly not trying to make your life more difficult, but there is no way I can tell you where I was."  
  
Hagen sighed, "I think we need to go down to the station."  
  
"Alright. You want to cuff me?" Bethany took off the gun she wore on her hip, keeping it in the holster. She started to put it away in her drawer, then hesitated. "Do you need this? Was he killed with a gun?"  
  
"You would hardly offer it to me if that was the one you used. I think we can forgo the cuffs at this time. We'll come back with a warrant and search this place, your home, your car. You can leave the gun here. We'll pick it up later."  
  
"Alright." As they were walking out Bethany told Jane (the receptionist) "Call Jack, these guys are taking me downtown, and are going to be coming back with a search warrant. I'm a suspect in a murder."  
  
At the crime scene they had found some hairs that looked promising. In fact, that was the most promising thing they found. The other stuff left behind, a smudged shoe print, and a partial fingerprint were to be run through normally. They took the hairs to the lab to run against the suspect the police had in custody.  
  
When Bethany first got to the room, she and Hagen were talking civilly to each other. "Look, talk to your colleagues. I didn't do it, I wouldn't do it. I can give you all the DNA you need. Do you want hair? Fingerprints? Blood? Urine? You name it, you've got it."  
  
"I'll take you up on that offer, thank you." Calleigh came in, then stopped when she saw who it was. She asked Hagen if she could talk to him outside.  
  
"Bethany James is your suspect?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, she was heard by dozens of people threatening Miller's life two days ago. She's not even pretending to be sorry he's dead, and she refuses to give an alibi for the time frame of the murder."  
  
"Bethany is a friend of mine. I know her. There's no way she would have done this." Calleigh told him.  
  
"Then there's no problem, right? You're the one who's always saying how evidence doesn't lie. So take her sample, compare it with the hairs found at the scene, and that should clear her."  
  
"Okay, you're right. It just feels weird, doing this to a friend. Oh, God, and what about Horatio? When he hears about this he's going to hit the roof."  
  
"Caine? Why, what's this got to do with him?"  
  
"He and Bethany are close. I don't know exactly what their relationship is. Actually, I'm not sure they know exactly what their relationship is, but he's going to have a conniption when he finds out she's the prime suspect."  
  
"I can't see Caine having a conniption under any circumstances. Maybe I should get him in here? Maybe he can talk so sense into her."  
  
"He's in court right now. Get word to him as soon as he's out."  
  
Calleigh went back into the room and got the samples from Bethany.  
  
Hagen brought Bethany some coffee, and while he didn't stop asking questions, the way that she had responded made him believe she hadn't done it. Comparing her DNA from the swab to the hair found at the scene took several hours, even though it had a priority tag on it. In the end Hagen felt like a fool. He stormed into the room, throwing the test results down on the table in front of Bethany. "It's your hair. You better have a damn good explanation."  
  
This was right around the time Horatio showed up. He came into the room, and picked up the results, looking them over.  
  
Bethany was stunned. "There's no way. There's been some kind of mistake. I don't even know where he's staying, I wasn't anywhere near him."  
  
Hagen said, "So explain it."  
  
"I can't. Wait, you said you found hairs, right?" Bethany asked.  
  
"Yeah. Your hairs."  
  
"My hairs. Right. The kind of hairs you get in a hairbrush?"  
  
Hagen and Horatio both looked at her.  
  
"My hairbrush that was put into evidence here disappeared. Call Tripp. I want to talk to him."  
  
Tripp showed up and confirmed what she had said about the hairbrush. Only a few minutes after that Jack, counsel for Will Brayker and Co, came into the building and was led to the interrogation room. He conferred with Bethany while Horatio and Hagen talked outside.  
  
Hagen said, "Everyone always says they've been framed."  
  
"That's true, but not everyone has a police detective corroborating a way the frame could have happened. If Bethany had really killed this man she would have come up with something more original. She also would have had an alibi ready. Actually, if she had done it, I doubt a body would have ever been found."  
  
Hagen snapped, "Look, I know you two are involved."  
  
"Involved." Horatio gave a small smile. He looked levelly at Hagen. "We are not, as you say, involved. But I do know her, and I know she didn't do this."  
  
"That's the same thing Calleigh said. If she's so innocent why won't she tell us where she was?"  
  
"I don't know. Whatever it is, she thinks it's important enough to protect."  
  
"This is crap. Either she did it, or she's holding up an investigation."  
  
"She's not holding up anything. We're not done processing the evidence yet. That is what's going to tell us where to look, not Bethany telling us where she was at the time."  
  
The tension was rising exponentially between the two men.  
  
Hagen said "I think you're too close to this. Your emotions are getting in the way."  
  
Horatio was starting to reply when Jack interrupted them, telling them they could come back in.  
  
Nothing really had changed since the lawyer came. Bethany was sticking to the same line as before. She didn't do it, and she wasn't going to say where she was. She did ask to have her clothes and skin tested for gunpowder residue. Her hands were clean, and so where the clothes she was wearing at the moment, but Hagen wanted to test all the clothes in her home. There was a warrant in the works to do that and more, at her home, at her work, and also her car, just as promised.  
  
Horatio spoke for the first time to Bethany since he'd arrived. "The detectives are going to hang onto you as the prime suspect until they are forced to look elsewhere. If you don't tell us, we'll have to find out for ourselves, and that will take time, which could be used to track down the real killer. Every minute we're wasting here because of your stubbornness lets the trail get colder."  
  
"Look, I've worked with the Miami-Dade PD plenty of times, and with Austin PD before that. You can believe me when I say you need to be out there looking for..." She stopped in mid-sentence. She looked like she'd stopped in mid-thought. Her hand was raised, frozen in the air from gesturing. Her mouth was still open from the words she had been speaking. You could almost see the tumblers in her mind clicking into place. . . . "You know what, Hagen is right. I did do it. I killed him and I'm ready to make a full confession."  
  
"What!?" The word came from all three men in the room simultaneously.  
  
"Look, Bobby Miller was a monster. He needed killing. Did I tell you about the time he held a woman down, pried her eyelids open, and put a lit cigarette on her eye? He got away with that, dozens of other maimings and mutilations, not to mention at least two murders, although I think the end total was more like five. When I found out he was in my town, I warned him to leave, and when he didn't I followed and killed him. I probably saved lives by what I did."  
  
"Bethany, what the hell are you saying? You didn't kill him," Horatio said.  
  
"Oh yes I did, and your own evidence supports it."  
  
Horatio stared at her. "You realize you'll go to prison over this"  
  
Bethany replied, "Yes."  
  
"And the real killer will still be out there."  
  
She flinched, just a little, but enough for Horatio to notice.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Horatio, get out of here. This is a done deal."  
  
Meanwhile the lawyer had been trying to get her to shut the hell up. Bethany told him "Jack, make the best deal you can."  
  
Horatio said, "I would like to speak to Ms. James alone."  
  
"Absolutely not," the lawyer answered.  
  
"Counselor, your client just confessed to murder. In what way do you think I can make this situation any worse?" Bethany said, "There's nothing to talk about. I said you need to get out of here. Call your people off the crime scene, save the taxpayers some money."  
  
Horatio insisted with a "Gentlemen, if you please."  
  
The other two men left the room. Horatio pulled a chair over, so he was sitting near Bethany at 90 angle from her, so he could watch her face. She refused to meet his eyes.  
  
"So what's going on here, Bethany? I know you didn't do it. We had breakfast this morning. I don't think even you have enough spine to murder a man, then have breakfast with me."  
  
"Horatio, I can't. I wish I could, but the Miami police department has got leaks, and I can't do it."  
  
Horatio said, "You can trust me, though."  
  
"I would trust you with my life. But it's not my life on the line."  
  
"Whatever it is, is it worth you going to prison for?" asked Horatio  
  
Bethany replied, "Yes" with no hesitation  
  
Horatio went for the only sign of weakness he had seen so far. "And the real murderer? What about him getting away?"  
  
"I'll deal with that later."  
  
"Whatever we have, whatever we might have later, I don't think it can stand you letting a murderer get away."  
  
Pain flashed briefly in Bethany's eyes. Then she said, "I know. And I'm sorry. But it's worth that too."  
  
"Would you talk to me? Please?"  
  
"There are too many ears here. I can't. Even if there weren't, whatever I told you would end up on a report, and who knows how many people would see that." Bethany sat back in her chair.  
  
Jack and Hagen came in, much to Horatio's frustration. Jack had managed through some kind of legal mumbo-jumbo to get Bethany's preliminary hearing set for a few hours from now. Normally it takes days. Bethany got released on bail. She went home to her apartment, and late that night got a visitor. She answered the door with a shotgun in her hand, and saw Horatio standing there. She put the shotgun down, and raised her eyebrows to the look on Horatio's face.  
  
Horatio started first, "Okay, just you and me. No extra ears, nothing going on a report. Now will you talk to me?"  
  
"I'll tell you what I think, but not anything specific."  
  
Horatio sighed, and said, "I guess that will do. For now."  
  
"Okay, come on in."  
  
Bethany got a glass of wine, not her first of the evening, and offered one to H. He declined. She sat in an armchair, curling her legs under her. Horatio sat on the couch, as far away from her as the furniture would allow.  
  
It was Bethany's turn to talk. "Alright. What do you know about Joshua Hernandez?"  
  
"I know what everyone knows. He has stopped more drugs from coming into the country than most official government agencies. Has the nickname 'The Anti-Drug Lord' and has done it all on his own. He doesn't work for the government, although he does work with them on occasion. Last seen in L.A."  
  
Bethany nodded and said, "Did you know that several organized crime groups have started working together with eliminating him as the goal? They've combined money, and there's a bounty on his head of 200 Million dollars."  
  
Horatio whistled. "That's more then is offered for Bin Laden."  
  
"Yeah, they want him dead in a very bad way. And right now he's sick."  
  
Horatio stared at her. "What?"  
  
"He can't protect himself. So a few of his friends are looking out for him. I'm one of them. I was watching over him when Miller was murdered."  
  
Horatio said, "Why didn't you say this at the station?"  
  
"Okay, a hairbrush that was logged into evidence was used to set me up. Someone in the Miami PD has been bought. Who am I supposed to trust? Who wouldn't go bad for that kind of money?"  
  
"Well, there's me."  
  
Bethany said "And I'm telling you now. But I couldn't be sure who would have heard at the station."  
  
Horatio took his time, thinking things through with the new information. "Somebody already knows you're involved. Otherwise you wouldn't be in this frame up."  
  
"I know. When I didn't go tonight for my shift he would have been moved. He should be out of the city by now. I hope he's out of the state. I think I was framed on suspicion. Someone figured I would have to tell the location to the cops to avoid going to prison."  
  
Horatio said, "Now you're going to be on trial for murder."  
  
"Now I'm going to be on trial for murder. Sure you don't want something to drink? I'm getting another." Bethany got up and poured another glass of wine. It finished the bottle.  
  
Horatio noticed this and said, "So you are scared."  
  
"Of course I'm scared. I've never been in prison. I don't know what it's like, what I'll have to do to survive. But that doesn't matter. Hernandez is more important than me being scared. And you know what?...I'm part cat. I always land on my feet. I'll make lots of contacts in the underworld, increase my knowledge of how these people think and act. See, I've got some silver linings."  
  
"If he's no longer here, why do you have to confess to protect him?"  
  
"I don't know who set me up. I don't know what their thinking is. I don't know if they think I'm the only one who was helping him or not. If they think it was just me, I have to keep them focused here. The only way I have left to help him is by buying him some time to get as far away from here as possible. It's a classic distraction technique. Keep them watching the left hand, while the right hand does something sneaky."  
  
Horatio smiled slightly at her. It didn't reach his eyes. "Alright. Check me on this, though. If I were to find the actual murderer, a whole bunch of your problems would go away."  
  
"To quote the real Buffy 'Does the word Duh mean anything to you?' I thought the only evidence y'all found was mine, though."  
  
Horatio said, "Not quite. The only clean evidence we found was yours, but we've found some other things. My team running with it. I'll also go over the crime scene personally. Not matter how small, I'll find it. The killer always leaves something behind. It's one of the rules."  
  
Bethany said, "I like that rule. I have to say, though, killing Bobby Miller, despite the problems it's causing me, really was helping out the human race. If this guy hadn't used the deed to set me up, I probably would have paid his bail."  
  
Horatio asked, "Was that cigarette story true?"  
  
"Yeah. He really liked to hurt women. Had a think about porn stars, I guess because they were sexy but no one really cares enough to protect them. That's a powerful double whammy. We even found two bodies in New Orleans. When we gave all the evidence to the state of Louisiana it was thrown out. Sometimes the rich are untouchable. I guess Miller got touched last night. Miller was paying off the women to keep them quiet. I wonder what's going to happen to them now."  
  
Horatio got up. "I better go. I'm going to pull the team off everything else. We'll find something. Are you going to be alright here?"  
  
Bethany walked H to the door. "Yeah. I'll be fine, one way or another. I'm part cat, remember."  
  
"You're part cat, and I'm going to help you land on your feet."  
  
Bethany smiled at him. "You're really good at this whole Knight in Shining Armor thing, aren't you?"  
  
H gave her another small smile, looked at her a moment, then he turned and left.  
  
The investigation into the other evidence was underway, but going too slowly for Horatio's comfort. He worked on getting the results finished after the others had gone to work. The next couple of days, while the team was in the lab Horatio went with Dective Hagen, trying to find Edward Winters, the man who had stolen the hairbrush. Mr. Winters had disappeared, no sign of him in Miami, or in Florida for that matter.  
  
Speed was talking to Horatio and mentioned "We really don't have that much evidence to go on."  
  
Horatio replied, "We don't need much. We just need enough."  
  
After talking to room service they knew there was at least one woman in the room that night. Knowing Miller's tastes Hagen and Horatio went to porn producers, and talked to the actresses. They finally found the woman who had been with Bobby that night.  
  
Between a smudged shoe print, a partial fingerprint, and a description given by the woman of a man she passed in the hall as she was leaving the room, they discovered the killer was Graham Neilson. Neilson was ex-FBI, who had burned out on the job, and had apparently decided if you can't beat them, then you join them. He knew that Miller was a blight on humanity, killing him would be doing genetics a favor. He hadn't meant to get Bethany into much trouble. If she had just given Hernandez up to the police Neilson's contacts would have done the rest, and she would have been fine.  
  
Horatio said, "But you were going to kill Hernandez, weren't you? He's a good man, and you were going to kill him for money. You counted on Ms. James to turn her friend over, no realizing she would rather go to prison than betray a friend. I don't blame you for not realizing it. Obviously loyalty and trust aren't something you would know anything about."  
  
Neilson asked, "Now what happens?"  
  
"Well, now you're going to talk to internal affairs about your contacts within the department, and then you are going to be on trial for the murder of Robert Miller. Now, I am going to do the best I can to make sure you can never hurt anyone again."  
  
Horatio was on the beach, looking out towards the ocean. Bethany walked up and stood next to him, also looking out.  
  
Bethany said, "So, you got him."  
  
"Yes we did."  
  
They watch the ocean for a while. Then H reached over, still watching the water, and slid his hand down Bethany's arm until their fingers intertwined.  
  
Horatio asked, "Are you okay with this?"  
  
Bethany nodded, squeezing his hand.  
  
Horatio nodded to himself. "Good, because I don't think I'll be letting go anytime soon."  
  
Bethany looked at him and smiled.  
  
Horatio used the interlocked hands to draw her to him, and kissed her. Then they both turned back to the ocean, looking out over the waves. 


End file.
